Suckling apparatus for feeding animals



Nov. 9, 1965 A. M. PICKARD 3,216,397

SUCKLING APPARATUS FOR FEEDING ANIMALS Filed Dec. 9, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENTOR ALBERT MPmKARD ATTORNEY Nov. 9, 1965 Filed Dec. 9, 1963CLOSED A. M- PICKARD SUGKLING APPARATUS FOR FEEDING ANIMALS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ALBERT M. PICKARD ATTORNEY United States PatentOfifice 3,216,397 Patented Nov. 9, 1965 3,216,397 SUCKLING APPARATUS FORFEEDING ANIMALS Albert Marshall Pickard, P.O. Box 657, Raymondville,Tex. Filed Dec. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 329,112 7 Claims. (Cl. 119-71) Thisinvention relates to apparatus for feeding a large number of animalssuch as calves and the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a rack for supporting aplurality of nursing bottles in an upright position while filling thebottles with a liquid food from the bottom and which is adjustable toinvert and support the bottles in an inclined plane for feeding thecalves.

A further object of the invention resides in providing means for washingthe bottles with a cleaning solution without removing the bottles fromthe rack.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a rack forsupporting a plurality of nursing bottles having a shaft extendinglongitudinally of the rack and rotatably mounted so that the rack can berotated to assume various positions. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a feeding apparatus whichis simple and durable in construction, reliable and efficient in use andinexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following specification.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

FIG. 1 is an end view of the feeder with the rack disposed in feedingposition,

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the rack,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rack viewed from thefront with a bottle in position for insertion in a compartment of therack,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rack viewed from theback,

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation View of the rack showing the bottle washingapparatus connectedthereto,

FIG. 6 is an end view of the rack with the bottle washing apparatusconnected therewith,

FIG. '7 is a vertical sectional view of a bottle showing the spraynozzle connected thereto for washing the bottle, and,

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the bottle taken on line 88 of FIG.7.

In the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration a preferredembodiment of the invention is shown the numeral 5 denotes a rack havinga top board 6, back board 7 and a base board 8 hingedly connected byhinges 9 to the lower edge of the back board. The rack is divided into aseries of compartments 10 by spaced vertical partitions 11 disposedbetween the top board 6 and base board 8 which are afiixed to the backboard. A shaft 12 extends longitudinally of the rack being affixed tothe outer side of the back board and the ends of the shaft are journaledin bearings 13 mounted on the top of upright posts 14 mounted on thefloor of a cow barn in front of the cow stanchions 14. Attached to oneend of shaft 12 is a crank 15 for rotating the shaft to revolve the rackto various positions.

Any desired number of plastic bottles 16 for holding milk are disposedin the compartments 10 in spaced apart relation, each bottle having anelongated nipple 17 attached to one end and a T-shape pipe fitting 18attached to the other end in communication with the bottle. An opening19 is provided in the bottom of each compartment to receive the nippleand the end of the nipple has an orifice 20 formed by crossed slits fordispensing the milk from the bottle. The T-pipe fitting 18 is disposedin a slot 21 formed in the front edge of the top board 6 and isconnected with the T-pipe fittings of adjacent bottles by sections ofpipe forming a continuous pipe line 22 connected at one end by aflexible pipe 23 to a milk supply tank 24 which is provided with a valve25 to control the flow of milk to the pipe line. The free end of thepipe line is provided with a control valve 26 and if desired othercontrol valves may be provided throughout the length of the pipe line.When inserting the bottles into the compartments the base board 8 isswung downwardly at a slight angle so the nipple 17 may be easilyinserted in the opening 19 and the collar 27 of the nipple rests on apiece of wire mesh 28 applied over the opening on the underside of thebase board so the nipple cannot be pulled off the bottle by the calfwhen feeding.

The shaft 12 is rotated to revolve the rack to tilt the bottles in afeeding position, as shown in FIG. 1, the rack being held in tiltedposition by stop arms 29 projecting from the ends of the back boardwhich abut against the posts 14. After the milk in the bottles has beenconsumed by the calves, the rack is revolved by turning shaft 12 toinvert the bottles after detaching the flexible pipe 23 from the pipeline. Above the rack is a fixed pipe line 30 and leading from the pipeline are a series of flexible branch pipes 31, one for each of thebottles. The end of each branch pipe is equipped with a nozzle 32 formedof a perforated copper tube which is inserted through the orifice 20 ofthe nipple into the bottle. One end of the pipe line 30 is connected toa centrifugal pump 33 which in turn is connected by a pipe 33' to acleaning solution reservoir 34. The reservoir 34 is also connected b'ypipe 35 to a T-fitting 36 interposed in the pipe line 22 carried by therack to provide for the continuous circulation of the cleaning solution.

In use, the rack 5 is positioned with the bottles 16 in uprightposition, as shown in FIG. 5, and valve 25 is opened to allow milk toflow from the supply tank 24 through pipe line 22 to supply milk to eachof the bottles. When the bottles are filled to the proper level thevalve 25 is closed and pipe 23 is disconnected from the pipe line. Therack 5 is then rotated by turning crank 15 to invert and dispose thebottles in an inclined plane, the rack being held in position by stoparms 29. In tilted position the nipples 17 of the bottles may be easilyreached by the month of the calf, as shown in FIG. 1. After the milk inthe bottles has been consumed the rack 5 is revolved to position thebottles in an upright position with the nipples at the top, and theflexible pipe 23 is disconnected from the milk supply tank and connectedto a source of supply of the cleaning solution. The T-fitting 36 in thepipe line attached to the rack is then connected by flexible pipe 35 tothe reservoir 34. The nozzles 32 depending from pipe line 30 above therack are inserted through the orifices 20 of the nipples into thebottles and upon operation of the centrifugal pump 33 the cleaningsolution is circulated through the pipe line 30 and dispensed throughthe nozzles 32 into the bottles. The cleaning solution flows from thebottles into the pipe line attached to the rack and is returned throughpipe 35 to the reservoir.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown anddescribed is a preferred example of the same and changes in the shape,size and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from thespirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus for feeding suckling animals comprising a rack mounted forrotation about its longitudinal axis, a series of bottles mounted insaid rack, nipples attached to one end of said bottles, T-pipe fittingsattached to the opposite end of said bottles, pipe sections connectingsaid T-pipe fittings together forming a continuous pipe line forsupplying a liquid food to said bottles, means for rota-ting said rackto position the bottles in an upright position while supplying theliquid food, means for supporting the bottles in an inclined plane, wheninverted, to dispose the nipples in a feeding position, and means forintroducing a cleaning solution through the nipples after the supply offood is dispensed from the bottles.

2. Apparatus for feeding suckling animals comprising a longitudinal rackmounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis, a series of bottlesmounted on said rack, a pipe line connected to the bot-tom of each ofsaid bottles for supplying food to said bottles when in an uprightposition, nipples attached to the top of said bottles, a second pipeline disposed above said rack for supplying a cleaning solution,flexible branch pipes extending from said second pipe line, nozzles onthe ends of said branch pipes for insertion in the nipples of saidbottles, and means for rotating said rack to invert said bottles anddispose the bottles in an inclined plane.

3. Apparatus for feeding suckling animals comprising a rack divided byvertical partitions to form a series of compartments, bottles disposedin said compartments having nipples attached to their upper ends, a pipeline extending longitudinally of said rack having connection with thebottoms of said bottles for supplying a liquid food to the bottles, asecond pipe line above said rack for supplying a cleaning solution,branch pipes eXtending from said second pipe line, nozzles on the endsof said branch pipes for insertion in the nipples of said bottles fordispensing the cleaning solution in the bottles, means mounting saidrack for rotation about its longitudinal axis to invert said bottles andmeans for limiting the rotation of said rack to hold the bottles in aninclined plane.

4. Apparatus for feeding suckling animals comprising a rack divided intoa series of compartments, a shaft longitudinally of the rack andattached to the back of said rack, posts rotatably supporting the endsof said shaft, bottles mounted in the compartments of said rack, nipplesconnected to one end of said bottles insertable through openings in oneend of said compartments, T- pipe fittings connected to the opposite endof said bottles insertable in slots formed in the other end of saidcompartments, sections of pipe connecting said T-pipe fittings ofadjacent bottles forming a continuous pipe line to supply a food to saidbottles, means for rotating said shaft to invert and dispose saidbottles on an inclined plane for feeding the animals, a second pipe lineabove said rack having a series of branch pipes, nozzles connected tothe ends of the branch pipes for insertion through the nipples of saidbottles when the bottles are empty, a centrifugal pump connected to saidsecond pipe line, and a reservoir for supplying a cleaning fluid to saidpump.

5. Apparatus for feeding suckling animals comprising a longitudinalrack, a series of bottles mounted on said rack in an upright fillingposition, nipples attached to the upper ends of said bottles, means forintroducing food into the lower ends of said bottles, means at each endof said rack, midway the height of said bottles, rotatably supportingsaid rack and means for rotating said rack and bottles to an invertedsuckling position in an inclined plane.

6. Apparatus for feeding suckling animals as described in claim 5wherein the means for introducing food into the bottles includes T-pipefittings attached to the lower ends of said bottles and pipe sectionsconnecting the pipe fittings of adjacent bottles together to form acontinuous pipe line.

7. Apparatus for feeding suckling animals as described in claim 5including a pipe line above said rack for supplying .a cleaning solutionand means extending from said pipe line for introducing the cleaningsolution into said bottles through said nipple.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 274,379 3/83 Reedl19-71 1,020,136 3/12 Freely et al. 248--l03 1,400,797 12/21 Burnham134167 2,227,734 1/41 Meyer 141'7 2,263,069 11/41 Coyner 119-712,380,771 6/45 McDonald 119-14.l8 X 2,506,205 5/50 Fry 119-71 2,794,4206/57 Recchia 11914.l8

FOREIGN PATENTS 20,855 l1/00 Great Britain. 219,715 8/24 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Popular Mechanics, April 1948, p. 217.

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner. ALDRICH F, MEDBERY, Examiner,

5. APPARATUS FOR FEEDING SUCKLING ANIMALS COMPRISING A LONGITUDINALRACK, A SERIES OF BOTLES MOUNTED ON SAID RACK IN AN UPRIGHT FILLINGPOSITION, NIPPLES ATTACHED TO THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID BOTTLES, MEANS FORINTRODUCING FOOD INTO THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID BOTTLES, MEANS AT EACH ENDOF SAID RACK, MIDWAY THE HEIGHT OF SAID BOTTLES, ROTATABLY SUPPORTINGSAID RACK AND MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID RACK AND BOTTLES TO AN INVERTEDSUCKLING POSITION IN AN INCLINED PLANE.